150 pot plants found after fire in Lake Merritt apartment building

Oakland police are investigating a marijuana-growing operation at an apartment complex overlooking Lake Merritt that was uncovered after firefighters put out a blaze there early today.

About 150 marijuana plants worth thousands of dollars were found inside the seven-story building at 1918 Lakeshore Ave. authorities said.

Firefighters responded at 12:40 a.m. to the blaze, which caused an estimated $35o,000 in damage, fire Lt. David Brue said.

About 10 people were displaced from the 37-unit building. The fire damaged the sixth and seventh floors, and there is water damage throughout the building, Brue said.

The cause of the fire and its origin are under investigation, although authorities believe the blaze began in an upper floor where the marijuana was found. No arrests have been made.

Lucille Cullom, 87, has lived in the building since 1949. She said of the marijuana discovery, "You just don't know what's happening anymore, because we've always had a nice building. So when something like this happens, it surprises all of us."

Cullom said she believed one of the people responsible for the marijuana was raising puppies in a seventh-floor penthouse until he was barred from doing so. "He seemed like a nice person," she said.

Several large marijuana-cultivation operations have been uncovered recently in Oakland. In April, police raided a former auto body shop in the city's San Antonio neighborhood and seized 2,100 marijuana plants. In November, several hundred marijuana plants were found at a West Oakland building after firefighters doused a three-alarm blaze at an adjacent warehouse.

The month before that, police found more than 4,000 marijuana plants inside a newly built East Oakland home after checking on the resident's well-being because the garage door was left open.